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SVB’s collapse sends California wineries into a state of uncertainty

Mar 28, 2023
More than 400 California wineries borrowed from Silicon Valley Bank. In the aftermath of its collapse, many are wondering what comes next.
In addition to lending to wineries, SVB helped raise money for basics like bedding and food for area farmworkers, said farmworker advocate Rosaura Segura.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Napa Valley's vineyards are in "climate crisis," winemaker says

Oct 3, 2022
Between heat waves, droughts and wildfires, the grapes of California's wine region are suffering nature's wrath. Producers are trying to adapt.
The climate crisis, which worsens drought and wildfires, is changing agriculture. That includes vineyards.
Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images

Horses are again working in French vineyards

Aug 4, 2022
The animals can work land that is inaccessible to tractors, and vineyard owners say they improve the soil for grapes. But they raise costs as well.
A horse named Diva at work at Chandon de Briailles, one of many French vineyards that use horses instead of tractors.
John Laurenson

Can winemakers salvage grapes tainted by wildfire smoke?

Jun 7, 2022
Scientists are looking at ways to determine if grapes from smoky areas can still be used, without adding an unpleasant ashy taste to wine.
Phil Crews at his Pelican Ranch Winery in Scotts Valley. Crews, an organic chemist at UC Santa Cruz, showed that a method pioneered in Australia can detect smoke's impact on California wines.
Jerimiah Oetting/KAZU News